Well, the Z is about to roll past 100,000 miles. It has been a long hard road for the z as a daily driver and it is finally going to be used as a weekend/track car. But first it needs some maintanance. After opening up the plenum, i found a lot of debris and oil residue. The last time i had it open was about 30,000 miles ago and there was alot of oil (due to test pipes and a lack of back pressure that let oil pass on up into the plenum). 5,000 miles ago i installed a catch can and it appears as if that solved that issue. THe oil residue i the plenum is dry now.



You can also see alot of, for a lack of a better word, crap (oil/dirt) on the valve covers. I am not a mechanic but want to do as much of the work as I can myself. What do you guys reccommend. New plugs, injecters, wires, coolant lines, ect...? I want to get this car healthy again so I can finally track it again.


Thanks For Your Response.

 

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. But I would also look into replacing some suspension like bushings.

 

i would say plugs would be a good idea .. but i dont think wires are necessary .. coolant lines are optional but if you do upgrade i would suggest silicone lines as they are supposed to last longer.

as far as that "crap" by ur dipstick, i had alot of that too. i cleaned it all up with degreaser/brush/lite water pressure. i installed my catch can at the same time and havnt had any of it return. im guessing oil was pushed out of the crappy dipstick with the pressure from the blowby gasses. catch can installed and no more crap

o, and i would suggest cleaning out your plenum with some good cleaner. thats pretty bad

 

I would say some of that residue on the valve cover by the coil packs may just be from some oil spilling over the rubber "cup" around the oil fill cap.

 

Let's rebuild it.

 

sounds like fun, you want to sponsor the build? I'm starting a business and I have no cash.

 

thanks. i didn't think about oil blowing out past the dipstick. That would make sense why there is oil on top of the plenum although there isn't any on the hood. I plan on running the car pretty hard after i clean thing up and change plugs, any reccommendations to other modifications to help reliability?

 

I'll be picking up plugs from autozone this weekend. Any suggestions?

 

I think your on the right track, plugs, hoses and gaskets would be a great idea. And... Clean out that plenum!

Just a heads up... I recently had an issue at a track day that looks to have stemmed from overheating. I let the thermostat in there a little too long and it went from no problem to blown engine. Heads up.

 

what gaskets should i replace? do you guys recommend an oil pan spacer?

 

my pop charger has 40,000 miles on it. should I replace it?

 

do ou think there is a need to replace the thermostat?

 

Just clean the filter and you should be good to go.

 

Haha congrat and good luck with business.

I would do compression test, since motor has many milies. Also ngk plugs are good, i had no problem. Other parts I will stick with oems.

Since you are runing track, its good to add oil catch can. Also some cooling mods as well. Good luck.

Btw, I just started my business so I also got no cash to support you.

 

thanks and best of luck to you with your business

 

Does that stuff come off?

 

Before

AFter


I pulled the plugs and replaced with NGK Iridiums. When i pulled the plugs some where covered in oil. What does this mean?

 

I forgot to mention the best part. when i pulled the z out to take it for a test run after reistalling everything i backed into my wifes car that was sitting half way out in front of the driveway. Yay ME!

 

Oil issue looks like the o-rings for the spark plug holes are bad. Bad news is the o-rings are part of the valve cover so you would have to replace the whole valve cover.

 

hmmm...what would happen if I left it alone?